


Inadequate Western

by Judayre



Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Crossdressing, Inadequate western, horse accidents
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-05
Updated: 2016-08-05
Packaged: 2018-07-29 13:06:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,675
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7685719
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Judayre/pseuds/Judayre
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bifur and Bofur take in Nori and "his" sister and daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bifur watches a rodeo.

Bifur couldn’t compete anymore, but he always went to the rodeo and fair. Bombur was in every contest related to food, and Bofur played with the musicians. He was also still a rodeo clown, ten years after he dragged Bifur’s unresponsive body out of the arena.

Bifur generally wore his hat low to cover the worst of the scars and keep off stares. He didn’t need that when he was sitting at a low table so the children could see his toys better. He made cowboys and horses, Indians and soldiers, cattle and dogs, whole ranches for children to play with. He liked to watch the smiles on young faces, and it was a way to spend the time before the main event.

He liked horses, but watching the animals paraded around to pick the “best” one hadn’t interested him even when he could still easily ride. Now, he saw them inspected and treated as things to be compared and judged and he felt a kinship with them. He wouldn’t add his own stares to those that were treating the horses (and cattle, and swine, and sheep….) as though they weren’t breathing, feeling beings.

But the actual rodeo contests…. He couldn’t keep away from those. He packed what little remained of his toys and limped over to lean against the fence - a sign of respect given to him still ten years after he had survived being gored and trampled.

He had been one of the best, once, and now he thought he was even better. He couldn’t ride, but he could read every muscle an animal had. He watched the men doing the riding, and he knew who would make it through the ride and who would be thrown.

This year he didn’t know any of the contestants, and it was sad to think that all of his friends were getting too old to ride. He leaned against the fence and watched as they riders showed off on their own horses. Several of them were quite good, but there was only one really worth watching. He was a young man, slim and small, with his long red hair back in the quick braid of those who didn’t have time to pay attention to their hair. He was clean shaven, though, so Bifur wasn’t completely sure.

The redhead rode with a grin, every bit a showman as he rode the arena, letting the audience see what he was capable of on a broken mount. He finished with a flip and landed on his feet in the dirt of the arena. The smattering of applause seemed to startle him, but he gave a bright smile and bowed. 

Bifur looked forward to seeing him in the actual competition. Everyone else was local. Once their names were announced, Bifur felt confident that he knew how they would do. The redhead - Nori Conell - was a mystery.

The clowns performed while everything was cleared and prepared, and then the event that everything else was designed around. Bifur pushed his hat back so he could see more clearly. He heard his name and knew that he was being pointed out - a warning, most likely, this long since he rode.

There was nothing he hadn’t expected, but he whistled and clapped for each man as he rode. It was hard work and terrifying, even when you were used to it, and they deserved all the applause. But when Nori was announced he pulled himself up and half over the fence to see everything.

It was mesmerizing to watch the slender redhead on the bucking mount. He felt like he saw each move before it even happened, noting how both man and beast tensed and moved. And that was why he was off the fence and running even before Nori was thrown. He dimly heard Bofur shouting his name as he caught the man before he hit the ground and twisted to put himself as shield.

He had sowed enough confusion that the animal didn’t quite know what to do, though. The clowns got in and herded it back to the corral. Bifur had a moment to look down into golden eyes wide with terror. And then slim hands were on his face, and Nori kissed him - a warm, firm press of lips - for just an instant before they were being led to the doctors.


	2. Chapter 2

Doctors were a menace for all they said they were just trying to help. Perhaps because of that, Nori considered as she tried to get the man to leave her alone. She didn’t get away without a blanket - “for shock” - but once she pointed out the man who had caught her - “I never hit the ground!” - he left her. And considering how the man was scarred and how he limped, Nori was glad of it.

She was by herself with the flask she’d lifted from the doctor’s pocket when a small fife year old girl rounded the corner at a run, holding her had with one hand. Nori set the flask down and opened her arms, bracing herself as Ori barreled into her.

“Don’t worry. See? I’m okay,” she said gently, kissing ginger hair that was freed to the wind when Ori had let go of her hat to fling her arms around Nori. “I’m fine. Go thank the brave man who helped me.”

She gave a small push and watched Ori walk to the older man.

“Thank you,” the girl said politely. The man made a motion as if to wave the gratitude away and stopped in shock as Ori flung herself onto him, hugging him tightly. “Thank you for saving papa.”

Wonderful smart Ori, who never forgot to call her papa when anyone could hear and never failed to call her mama when they were alone. Nori smiled softly at her daughter, then turned to look at her sister, smile falling away.

“There won’t be any purse for today, Dori,” she said apologetically.

“Apologizing for that with what we had to watch?” Dori asked sharply, fingers trembling on the brim of Ori’s hat. “The purse doesn’t mean anything. We’ll be fine without it.”

“I know how much money we have left,” Nori said, voice soft enough that none but Dori would hear.

And that did make her sister pause. “We’ll find a way,” she said after a moment. “But if you think we could do it without you you’re fooling yourself.”

She meant it, Nori knew. But she also knew it wasn’t true. Dori was a survivor, and it was honestly a relief to know that if anything happened her sister would find a way to keep going. But she couldn’t say that, and she cast about for a way to change the subject.

“What’s that you have there?”

Dori looked down at her hands. “Ori has a new toy.”

Nori raised both brows at that, and Dori became quickly flustered.

“It was a present. The man refused my money and wouldn’t take it back. Ori was beside herself.”

“That’s no way to earn money,” Nori said, eyes narrowing. “What would he do that for?”

“Hard to see a child smile if you don’t give her a toy just because of money.”

Both Dori and Nori looked up sharply to see a man in the bright colors and face paint of a rodeo clown beside them.

“Bofur Carys. Bifur there is my cousin and the toy maker. He does it because he loves children. The money helps, but we don’t really need it.”

Lucky for them, Nori thought sourly, looking back over at where her daughter was sitting in the man’s lap.

“– so we’ll have to get food from the fields and move on again.”

“Ori!” Nori snapped, voice cracking too high in her alarm. What had the girl been saying?

She saw hand signs flashing between the two men as Ori trotted to her and her legs tensed under her, ready to bolt whenever it seemed best.

Before she could decide, Bofur turned to her again. “There’s a lot Bifur can’t do with the animals anymore, and we really do need an extra hand. I don’t like to advertise it around here, but asking you in isn’t the same at all, is it?”

“You don’t know anything about us!”

Bofur shrugged, the motion and conversation all a bit surreal behind his make up. “Bifur’s a good judge of character, and I saw you with that show horse earlier too. It’s just the two of us in an old farmhouse, so you have enough room for each of you to have three rooms as well.”

Ori giggled, but Nori pulled her closer. She had enough experience with men to not be so quick to trust. But she looked over at Bifur, the man who had saved her from mauling. He didn’t know her and had no reason to help her, and from his limp and scars, it must have come at some cost to him. She must owe him something for that, and extending so small an amount of trust wasn’t too much. They could vanish overnight if necessary.

“We’ll only need one for the three of us,” she said, voice still tense. Dori glanced at her sharply and then nodded.

“I won’t be idle,” she stated.

Bofur cocked his head. “You cook?”

Dori made a face. “Passably,” she answered. Nori made a face behind her back, glad Dori had been the one to say it.

“Mend?”

This time Nori broke in before Dori could answer. “My sister is the best with a needle I’ve ever met.” She was, after all, wearing the binder that Dori had both designed and created as part of her disguise.

“If that’s so she’ll have plenty of business hereabouts,” Bofur said, holding a hand out to Nori. “Room and board we can do, and some small payment. And we’ll stay out of your business unless you let us in.”

Nori and Dori exchanged looks for a long moment before Nori reached out to clasp the man’s hand and seal the deal.


End file.
